Over 500 events to be held in city parks, libraries and museums to mark 23 February

On Defender of the Fatherland Day, people will be able to visit free exhibitions, tours, workshops and military orchestra concerts, and participate in sports tournaments.

Moscow’s Department of Culture has organised over 500 events dedicated to Defender of the Fatherland Day. Between 20 and 24 February, festive programmes will be held in city parks, libraries, museums and cultural centres.

Thirteen Moscow parks will welcome those willing to spend the public holiday outside. On 23 February, Sokolniki Park will host the sixth Battle Sled festival. During this event, teams of two to five participants race down a hill in sleds designed to look like planes, tanks, ships or spaceships. The race will start at Vsepogorka Hill located at 3rd Luchevoi Prosek. To sign up for the competition, send an application to dianov@parksokolniki.info before 20 February.

As part of a longstanding tradition, before the beginning of the sled event, a wash basin race will take place. Participants of this event attach sinks to their tubes and paint the sinks to conceal them. Sinks and other items will be distributed among the participants before the event. The sink race will be held between noon and 1 pm, while the sled race will be from 1 pm to 2 pm.

On 23 February, Gorky Park will welcome all those into history by holding a free tour called The Great Victory and Exhibition of 1943-1948 of Captured Military Equipment. The tour starts at 11 am, 1 pm and 3 pm by the Andreyevsky Footbridge at Pushkinskaya Embankment. Walkers will learn more about how this popular Soviet recreational area survived the Great Patriotic War. For instance, they will learn that almost half of the park staff went off to the war, and that in 1941-1942 the park was bombed by the German air force. As a result, a great number of park facilities were destroyed, but the work never stopped. To sign up for the tour go to history@park-gorkogo.com.

Several city parks have also prepared sports and entertainment programmes for those into outdoor activities. For example, between 1 pm and 5 pm at Lianozovsky Park, men will be able to compete in arm wrestling and kettlebell lifting. Two more sports events will be held at Vorontsovsky Park. At 2 pm, the park’s big pond will host an amateur ice fishing competition. To sign up for the event, call 8 (495) 580-26-78. Starting from 4 pm, the park will also host a ski relay race for families.

On 23 February, any male will be able to enter the skating rink at Bauman Gardens for free. Between 6 pm and 9 pm, the skating rink will also host a disco party. Visitors at Izmailovsky and Babushkinsky Parks, and also Sirenevy Garden Park, will be able to attend military orchestra concerts. Festivities will also be held at Fili, Kuzminki, Severnoye Tushino and Perovsky parks, and at Pobedy Park on Poklonnaya Gora as well.

On 21 and 22 February, Library No. 257 (the township of Mosrentgen, the Mosrentgen plant village, 19) will host a themed exhibition. Visitors will see photographs, items from army life, and wartime newspapers. Librarians will hold tours of the exhibit.

On Saturday, 24 February, History of the T-34 Tank Museum Complex will hold a quest game called Defenders of the Fatherland (6+). Participants will be able to shoot a bow and arrow, learn the basics of fencing and bayonet fighting, try on armour, learn more about the Kalashnikov assault rifle and shoot from the legendary Mosin rifle or Simonov’s semi-automatic carbine. The quest game starts at 2 pm. Participation in the quest game is free. Tickets must be purchased to visit the museum.

On 24 February, between 11 am to 5 pm, Moscow’s Paustovsky Literary Museum Centre will hold a lecture on Konstantin Paustovsky’s participation in World War I and the Great Patriotic War. Moreover, visitors will be able to watch wartime newsreel footage and clips from Albert Gendelstein's feature film Lermontov, the script of which was written by Paustovsky himself.